


Reds Under The Bed

by LilyAngorian



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV), The Game BBC
Genre: 1972, About Freddie Thorne, And I am clearly a professional, And Joe has been sent in to pump him for information (pun very much intended), But it would have completely changed the mood, London, M/M, Thomas is a very dangerous man (obviously), Thomas' former lover and known KGB operative, You have no idea how much restraint it took to resist naming this Operation Arse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 09:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4173915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyAngorian/pseuds/LilyAngorian





	Reds Under The Bed

"I wouldn't bother. There's nothing incriminating here. Apart from you of course.”

Thomas Shelby's voice broke the reassuring silence in the room, and Joe froze, his fingers halfway through rifling through a stack of letters in the desk drawer. He turned around slowly, attempting to subtly slide the paper away from him, but the look on Thomas' face told him it was far too late for that.

"I didn't realise you were awake.”

"Clearly. I always tend to sleep lightly after fucking a spy. Otherwise they start nosing around where they aren't welcome.”

Joe kept quiet, uncertain under Thomas' piercing gaze. The man was propped up against the pillows, sheets around his ankles displaying his obvious lack of concern about his state of undress. If anything, his position seemed far too relaxed. Either he had done this countless times before, or he was almost as good at lying as Joe was himself. It was likely a combination of the two. Joe wasn’t entirely sure how to respond, but Thomas spoke before he had a chance to

“Ohh don’t bother denying it. The only reason I’ve kept the pretence this long was because there was something in it for me. Seeing how now I don’t think I’ll be getting a repeat performance, there doesn’t seem to be any need for either of us to lie anymore.”

Joe gently pushed the drawer shut, and slipped the camera into his pocket. He leaned back against the desk in a show of confidence, body still tensing beneath his clothes, anticipating trouble. He'd seen a few knives lined up on the counter in the kitchen, but it was a good ten paces, and he would have to be quick. Judging from Mr Shelby's alleged past, by the time Alan had alerted the others that his cover was blown, it could all be over. Joe had dropped a few bugs when he'd arrived, and they'd agreed on "Birmingham" as a warning code word - a tribute to Thomas' humble beginnings, and easy to slip into conversation - but there would be little that anyone else could do if things turned nasty.

"What gave me away?”

"You had your eyes shut.”

Joe blinked, unable to hide his confusion. Thomas smiled wryly.

"I've seen it before. They all have their reasons. Wives, girlfriends, shame. But you clearly aren't married, and you don't seem the type to give a damn about other people's opinions. Which means that last night wasn't for fun.”

“It's a bit of leap to assume that I'm a spy.”

“Maybe. But I always assume people have an ulterior motive when approaching me, and you're too polished to work for the police. Besides, I've been waiting for one of your lot to show up.”

“Why?"

Thomas grinned at the - instantly regrettable - haste with which the question left Joe's lips.

"Obviously I've heard stories about the top class interrogation skills you lot use, but in person they're far more impressive..."

Joe couldn't help but chuckle quietly, inspire of the situation, and that seemed to have been the right move because Thomas continued calmly

"Since Freddie got back in touch. I assume that's what this is about. You could always have just asked me y'know, he doesn't have my protection anymore, and I certainly don't owe him anything. But I suppose asking would have rather ruined the mood.”

Joe allowed himself to relax slightly. Evidently, Thomas was more willing to talk than they had assumed. If he pushed a little further, they might be able to get some use out of him after all. 

"How long has it been since you were involved with Freddie Thorne?”

“I don’t like that word. Involved makes me sound like a conspirator. He was very persuasive but-"

"-Persuasive enough to tempt you?”

"No. What are you, MI5?”

“Does it matter?"

"Maybe. It'd give me an idea of what sort of situation I've found myself in."

"It’s Freddie Thorne we're interested in, not you.”

It was half true. If the investigation carried on so fruitlessly, they might need to start interrogating anyone who'd so much as looked at Freddie Thorne in the last few months. And Thomas Shelby wasn't exactly clean. There were far too many crimes that he had so far escaped punishment for and, according to Jim, there were a large number of people within the force practically baying for his blood. But, as far as everyone was concerned, he was virtually untouchable. Either he had friends in high places, or he had far more dirt on those above him than he would care to admit. 

“So why'd you ask if I was red?”

“You and him were close once, there had to be a reason for that. You wouldn’t be the first to be seduced by the idea.”

Thomas seemed to catch something of interest in Joe's voice, and cocked his head slightly as he replied 

"No, it seems not."

His tone was practically dripping with the implication, and Joe wondered briefly whether he would sound as knowing when played back to Daddy and the others. He was well aware that there was already suspicion as to his loyalties and the last thing he needed was men like Thomas Shelby making it even harder for him to do his job.

"Did you become involved in Fre-?"

“-You really think I'd tell you if I was?"

Thomas looked mildly irritated, but carried on regardless

"No. I think I was just the most suitable cover. He had his pretty, respectable girlfriend in London, and if anyone cared enough to dig any deeper, presumably they would stop when they got to me. His dirty little secret. Or at least, the one he was more comfortable with people using against him.”

“I wouldn’t have thought he would want anything that could draw attention to him.”

“He didn’t have a very high opinion of most people, and so I don't think he cared very much what they thought. But he was clever. He knew that he’d piss someone off eventually, and it was better to create a scandal that didn't compromise whatever it was he was working on."

“So you knew from the start?”

“I knew about the girlfriend. I knew there was something about him that didn’t quite add up. But not where his allegiances lay. He used to tell me he was a theoretical communist, but that in practice it would never work, which was far more clever than trying to make out he opposed it completely. But I never pushed him on it. I didn't care, and I usually had more important things to concern myself with.”

Joe thought about what he'd seen in Thomas' file, the pictures of the unidentifiable bodies that he was supposedly responsible for. His _concerns_ at this stage appeared far worse than anything Freddie Thorne had ever done. But in the grand scheme of things, Freddie was far more likely to do the most damage.

“When did you find out?”

“I don't know, a few months maybe. He’d moved me to London by then, so it was more convenient for him to get what he wanted, when he wanted it. He got bored with the girl after a while, only used her to keep up appearances, but he didn't seem to tire of me."

Tommy smiled briefly, a self-satisfied smirk.

"Anyway, when he left the flat in a hurry one day, he left his jacket behind. I went through the pockets for cigarettes and found a note instead. Something about spending Easter with his grandmother, and since I knew she was well and truly dead, I caught on quite quickly that he was hiding something bigger than I had thought.”

“He didn’t notice that you knew?”

“Well I didn't really know at first, but I never gave him any cause to suspect me. I had my own activities outside of the law, so he was used to me disappearing now and then, and being selective about the information I shared."

"Certainly a nicer way of phrasing the things you've done."

Joe couldn't help muttering it, but his words carried across the room. Thomas seemed entirely unmoved.

"I'm sure you've been paid to do some equal damage in the past. Just because you have secretary's bringing you coffee, and contact with people who are supposed to be important-"

"-Like you do, you mean?"

"Good effort. But I'm afraid it'll take more than that."

"Did you ever follow Freddie when he left the flat?"

"Once. He was particularly volatile one morning, and I wanted to find out why."

“What happened?”

“He met a guy in a pub. I only overheard a date and time. A few names. All outdated by now I imagine. I didn't hang around."

“Did you confront him about it?”

“It wasn't worth it. I didn't want to join him, and I certainly didn't want a bullet in my head. But from then on, I kept an eye on it. The odd meeting, the letters, anything he did that seemed odd."

“Why go to all that effort if you weren't interested?”

“The way I saw it, eventually he would either leave me for someone who shared his _vision_ , or get himself killed by putting himself in danger, doing something really stupid. If I was involved somehow, it gave me the chance to look out for him.”

“You were willing to betray your country?” 

“I’m not a communist. I don’t make deals with Russians. But I loved him."

He chuckled a little, somewhat bitterly, and continued

"I knew it was a risk at the time, but it sounds even more stupid in retrospect.”

“If we suspected you of being involved—“

“—You do. You have to, just to be on the safe side. But I'm not concerned. You boys know your limits when it comes to making accusations against me."

There was not even a trace of a threat to his words. How could he be so bloody assured?

“Why did Freddie Thorne come here on the 28th of last month?”

“What makes you think that I know anything? We hadn't had any contact for years until he showed up out of the blue, and I'm sure that you already knew that."

"After he approached you last week, he disappeared. We thought you may know something that could help us locate him.”

“If Freddie doesn't want to be found, and even the government can’t find him, I doubt I could be of much help.”

"There may be something that he said when you saw him, or something you remember from your past together which could assist us-”

“-We didn’t have much time for talking. I’d like to think he’d missed me, but I imagine it was more convenient staying here for a night than getting a room elsewhere. Either way, I didn’t ask.”

“You just let him in?”

“Like I said, he’s always been very persuasive."

His suggestive intonation was enough for Joe to realise that the question didn’t need to be repeated. 

“Did he leave anything here?”

“Not that I know of. I imagine you'd have found it by now if he had.”

“Did anyone else turn up, after him, or a few days later?”

“No."

Joe nodded in resignation, but Thomas continued after a moments thought 

"Freddie usually knows what he’s doing. He wouldn’t have involved me unless he had too, which means something probably went wrong. Which is why I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen. I suppose I’m lucky I got you instead of the Russians.”

In the lull that followed, Joe wondered how he was now to supposed to proceed. His cover was blown, and even if Thomas decided to let him go, he suspected that he and Daddy would be in serious trouble if Thomas talked to whoever it was that protected him. Because of his status, the whole thing had been arranged very delicately, so that no-one outside of the team had any idea what they were actually planning on doing. That would have all been for nothing if he decided to take offence. But Thomas simply looked curious

“If the plan was to search the house, you would have just waited until I was out. But they sent you in to seduce me. Why?”

“You're a difficult man to approach. We needed a reason for me to be here, so I could look around without drawing attention to either of us."

There didn't seem to be any point in lying to him.

"And now I've caught you out."

"Yes."

Thomas slowly stood up, wandered casually towards him as he said quietly

"So I suppose that means your fate lies in my hands."

Joe kept his face and voice impassive. It wouldn't do him any favours to show weakness, though they were both only too aware that Thomas had the power now.

"We needed information. You weren't very high on our list of his contacts, but we've exhausted the other options."

"You very nearly exhausted me too. But I imagine that was the point."

"Yes."

"Doesn't it make uncomfortable, being whored out like this?"

Thomas was stood in front of him now, eyes scouring his face, hand gesturing towards him and lightly brushing over the fabric of his open shirt, inches from the exposed skin of his chest. If it was a power play then it was a bloody good one - the action far removed from the frenzied thrusting and tussling he'd experienced a few hours before. Joe looked him firmly in the eye 

"I'm good at what I do-"

"-Oh no-one was disputing that."

The same lascivious tone, the same smirk. Joe found himself beginning to appreciate just how thin the line was between arousing and unsettling.

"Sometimes this is the only way."

"You believe that?"

Thomas leaned in closer, titled his head so that it was next to Joe's as he reached behind him and slid open a drawer in the desk. Joe heard a clink of metal and the tension in his body increased tenfold. Thomas brushed the sides of their heads together gently, almost in a nuzzling movement.

"I have to."

There was a short pause, Joe feeling hot breath on his neck, his mind racing as he attempted to decide how best to react if the next thing he saw was the barrel of a gun. But when Thomas pulled away, he was holding a cigarette case and a lighter, and there was a distinctly knowing glint in his eye. He lit a cigarette, offering one to Joe who declined with a dismissive jerk of his head, but maintaining the close proximity as he began 

"Well anyway, seems like whatever Freddie's done this time, it's the real thing. I suppose you're not allowed to divulge-"

"-It's confidential information."

Thomas nodded, replied calmly.

"Well, there are other ways I can get to the truth."

"I'm sure there are."

"Right, well I think you've had more than enough out of me, so now it's down to you."

He lowered his voice, whispering into Joe's ear

"You can either come back to bed and convince me to forget that this conversation ever happened, or I could just let you go now with a few fingers missing, as a little reminder of the meaning of privacy."

Joe thought briefly about the knives in the kitchen, a sentence about Birmingham dancing on the tip of his tongue. But then he deliberately brushed his thigh between Thomas' legs as he walked slowly back over to the bed, and shrugged the shirt from his shoulders. The things he did for this country.


End file.
